From: akulsum@aol.com (AKulsum) Newsgroups: alt.tv.quantum-leap.creative Subject: window 6/7 Date: 9 Oct 1996 02:36:38 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Message-Id: <53fh5m$isu@newsbf02.news.aol.com> Ooops, I sent this out to RASTQL by accident. Well, here it is in the correct place. Here's the next to last part. To all who have been writing with comments, thanks! I hope to have part 7 out by the end of the week! "Window to the Future" pt. VI Sam raced into the conference room just as Zoe was breaking away from _both_ guards and pulling a knife from her jacket, undoubtedly to kill the senator and destroy them all forever. "No!" he screamed and lunged for her, blocking the senator's view of the knife. She ran at him and grabbed his wrist to hold him still--and gasped. "Dr. Beckett," she snarled. Sam barely heard the senator's astonished repetition of her utterance as he avoided a potentially fatal swing of the knife. Sam wasn't certain if he could hold his own against her, but then the guards grasped her at the wrists and Sam disarmed her. He turned, "senator-" he began, but Ziggy cut him off. "Doctor, the admiral's lifesigns are fluctuating again." Sam turned to one of the guards. "Don't let anyone leave this room!" he ordered. Verbeena, from the doorway, nodded at the confused guard and he released Zoe to his companion's supervision in order to secure the room. Verbeena moved to go with Sam, but then changed her mind and reluctantly began to plot a way to soothe the senator's fury. Sam, on the other hand, tore down the Project hall, banishing all thoughts of all that had just transpired from his mind and never once giving them a second thought. When he reached the Control Room, he snatched a spare handlink and went directly to the Imaging Chamber, barely hearing Ziggy's assesment that Al was conscious and probably partially lucid, at least. The sight that greeted Sam's eyes as he entered the chamber caused him to drop to his knees and hold back a cry of joy. The urge was stilled when Al did not move. He was sitting on the floor against the wall with his knees drawn up almost to his chest. Sam couldn't see his face and he was as still as death. Sam held his breath until he saw the labored movement of Al's own. He leaned in close, but not so much so that he would startle his friend. "Al?" he called. Al moaned softly and stirred. The look in his friend's eyes almost sent Sam back into tears. Al had always continued himself independent and self-sustaining, and in one respect, he was very much so, but every person who ever lived has needed somebody else to love and to love them, and even as self-sufficient as Al was, he was no exception. Now that part of Al that he had denied so many times before refused to be ignored now. So astute was he at ignoring it that he hadn't even realized how his world had crumbled without Sam's friendship until his renewed presence had begun to piece it together again. Now they locked gazes and so much passed between them with a look that there was no need for words for a moment or two. In the end, it was Al who broke the silence. "Sam," he rasped and struggled to his feet. Sam involuntarily reached out a hand to help steady his friend but was, of course, unable to assist. *My God, he looks terrible,* Sam thought with a sinking heart. "It's good to see you," Al continued. "You have to help-" a sharp pain cut him off and he winced, trying hard not to double over not only because he wasn't certain he would be able to get up again, but because he really didn't want Sam to worry. He cursed his weakness, knowing that Sam had seen the reflex. Sam's eyes said it all. "I wish I could, Al. I can't imagine....there's so much I need to-" a squeal from the handlink attracted his attention. "What is it?" asked Al urgently, leaning forward and rocking unsteadily on the balls of his feet. "Ziggy says there are two people approaching this location. They'll be here in-" he hit he handlink "-2.45 minutes." "Sam, you've got to help me re-wire this to open the door." Al nodded to the open panel which he had a death grip on with both hands, which was in itself an incredible feat considering what he'd done with his broken wrist since he woke up. "I can't....see all the wires and make out which ones to-" "Okay, okay, Al......of course I'll help you, but you've got to hurry." Sam looked him over with one critical, professional glance. "Al....are you going to make it?" Al fought for a small smile. "Have I ever let you down before?" Sam returned the smile and pointed to the first wire, muttering, "and self-respecting woman on the other side of that door better watch out." -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------ Verbeena hadn't gotten anywhere with the senator, who really didn't care how many valid reciepts they produced, but just wanted to see them all in jail and return to Washington. She had tried several different tacks to no avail and was about to try plan H. Plan H involved sitting on the senator until she saw it their way. "Dr. Beeks?" *Senator, you better thank your lucky stars for that computer!* "Yes, Ziggy?" "Dr. Beckett and Admiral Calavicci have run into a bit of trouble and your presence may be required." "I'm on my way," she replied and was about to leave when one of the guards dropped down at her feet, bleeding from a gunshot wound in the leg. "My gun!" screamed the other guard and then he was clutching his arm. The next sensation Verbeena had was that of being shoved against the door jam and collapsing into darkness as Zoe fled the room. "Zoe, babe, you've got to stop them," Thames said in that distinctly superior voice as she ran down the hall. "Shut _up_!" Zoe yelled as she ran. "If you hadn't been babbling, I would have made a better shot and killed those guards. What does Lothos say I have to do?" "According to Lothos, the Admiral is almost out of confinement. We won't reach him in time to stop him from our end. Once he's out, the good Dr. Beckett will help sabotage the project!" Zoe scowled, "so I just have to shut down the Imaging Chamber and our resident genius won't be able to undo us, is that it?" "You got it! Lothos predicts that if he makes it to the Control Center, once he gets there, he will baracade himself in. If Dr. Beckett is not with him, he will not have time to do any damage before we get to him." Thames grinned, "I didn't exactly leave him in the best condition. Uh...Zoe, I want to go do something. You should be able to handle this without me." And Thames popped out of existance. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------ Ziggy's voice sounded almost panicked as she informed Sam that Zoe was on her way to the Control Room. Sam ordered her to lock him in the Imaging Chamber as she had a gun and he probably wouldn't be able to talk his way out of being shot in the heart as he had with Alia. As he was working with Sam, Al had a terrible thought. With Sam's assistance, Al reached the Contol Center. No sooner had he entered the Control Center doors, than Sam vanished from sight. Al stopped dead in his tracks and whipped around. "Sam?" he called. "He's not here, Admiral." Al stiffened at the sound of Thames' voice, but did not immediately turn around. Whatever he did, he could not let him see his concern. Or his fear. Then, slowly, he turned around to face his adversary and Thames levelled a gun at his heart. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------ Sam thumped on the handlink in frusturation as the Imaging Chamber went black. "Ziggy!" he yelled, knowing that it would do him no good; Ziggy couldn't help on this one. "I'm sorry, Doctor, I hvae no way of knowing if the admiral was successful or not." Abruptly, in the back of his mind, an idea began to form. "I'll give him five minutes," Sam proclaimed. "Where is Zoe?" "Zoe is currently behind the East panel. She has a .45 caliber gun and she is attempting to access information to shut down my systems." Ziggy's voice rose shrilly towards the end of her announcement. East.....that meant she was facing away from the Imaging Chamber door. Sam gritted his teeth and ordered Ziggy to open the door _quietly_. She did better....she only opened it halfway. Sam crawled behind the nearest console and eyed Zoe at the far end of the room. The sounds of conversation from the other side of the sealed Control Room door served as cover for Sam's heavy breathing. He rose slowly and began to cross the room. He saw Zoe's shoulders tense when he was only about six feet away and he froze. What happened next happened so quickly that Sam could never give an accurate account of it. Zoe whipped around and fired, but Sam was already back on the floor, and before she had a chance to take aim and fire again, he launched himself at her and they both ended up in a tangle on the floor. Sam vaguely felt metal against his head and he shoved at Zoe's arm in a blind panic. A second later, another shot rang out, deafening him in one ear. Zoe fought like a lioness and in one desperate attempt, Sam tucked his legs under her and pushed. Zoe hit the wall with incredible force, managing to get off one more shot before she slumped to the floor. Sam felt the sharp sting of a bullet as it just grazed his left arm. He heaved a sigh of relief as he entered the appropriate code to unseal the door. A glance at the East console told him that Zoe had been trying to override the lockout that would give her access to both him in the Imaging Chamber and the entire project itself. He didn't doubt that given more time, she would have been able to do it, either. Anyone who could hack their way into Ziggy's systems and change things without the hybrid computer being aware of it had to be a veritable computer genius. Sam glanced at his watch. "Two minutes, Al." -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------ Al backed away from the gun and pressed himself up against the nearby console. Part of his attention was trained on the gun and the other part concentrated on tapping in a quick, eight-number sequence behind his back on the console he was pressed up against. "You failed," Thames sneered, taking a step and a half closer to cover the distance Al had just created. Al's expression dissolved into a self-satisfied smile. "Actually, I didn't." He paused and flashed another cocky grin before continuing. "I figured you'd be waiting for me here, so I had Sam help me program a virus into your cooling system." Al's eyes glittered. "I just entered the sequence to activate it; withing twenty minutes, your entire system will crash." He leaned against the console and crossed his arms. Thames started to respond, the disbelief evident on his face, when the air conditioning stopped. "You're stalling!" countered Thames. "It's just coincidence." Then the lights on one of the consoles went out. Then another. And another. "You will pay for that. And I will not leave this room before I see you dead." Al concentrated on quelling the inner trembling that had started to make its home in his stomach. Thames raised the gun again. "Twenty seconds, Al. Hang in there," Sam muttered. A short pause and then Sam began to whisper the countdown to himself, praying between each deadly number. He was just going to _shoot_ him? How unoriginal! Al couldn't help it; he laughed. *Bordering hysteria,* he thought to himself and he uncrossed his arms and stood up straight. Al Calavicci always planned to face death like he faced life: head up, shoulders back, and with anticipation of another wonderful adventure. "You lose," Thames said slowly. "....four....five....six...." "And I.....win." And Thames fired a perfect shot, right into Al's heart. Please don't get too mad at me! I promise I'll hurry up and edit the last part! -amkt